


Day 223

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [223]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:41:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25853047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [223]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 2





	Day 223

Merrill looked at the cliff face with no small amount of trepidation. The visiting Magister, the bad one, not the pretty one who was Varric’s cousin somehow? Noll still hated her on principle, there was little doubt she owned slaves of her own, though she had sensibly left them at home. Spurious, on the other hand, had brought many slaves with him to provide the comforts he was accustomed to. These comforts included people cooking and cleaning for him, carrying his goods and emptying his chamber pot. The things that any member of a Dalish clan would gladly do for their Keeper without being forced (although a few might need to be asked twice.)

They were also there to serve as fuel for blood sacrifices. It was people like Spurious who made it so difficult for people like Merrill to open up about their use of blood magic. Using your own blood or that freely given caused no harm and made one no more likely to be possessed by demons. The extreem emotions (fear mostly) of unwilling victims was what drew the demons.

Marrill was here, Noll, Brennan, and Thrask as well, to free these slaves. Saving these poor souls would have been motivation enough for the group but Maevaris wanted to cut off her rival’s supply of power, and to divert his attention from Hawke’s team, who were preparing to confront the Magister directly. Before any of that, however, they had to scale the cliff.

“It's a long way up,” she whispered. Noll laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. They flashed her a cocky smile.

“That’s why I’m here,” they said. “Wait here.”

They set off up the cliff face like a squirrel climbing a tree. Although Noll was much less furry than a squirrel, and didn’t have a tale. Although... they did like to bury food in case of emergency, so they had that in common. 

Every so often, Noll would hammer a metal spike into the wall, looping the rope through it. They peaked over the top of the cliff into the cave. Merrill couldn’t quite see what they were doing but a few seconds later, a dead human tumbled silently off the edge. The group at the bottom had enough time to get clear and the human landed with a soft thud in the sand. 

Merrill inspected the body, noting the dart lodged in its neck. She and the others secured their weapons and followed Noll up the cliff. The spikes served as a way for the less skilled climbers to safeguard themselves should they fall. Of the group, only Thrask ended up needing it and before long, they had all reached to top. They found two more dead guards at the top and Noll, cleaning the blood off their daggers.

“There are at least ten more inside,” they said. “Not including a mage apprentice.”

“How do you know it’s an apprentice mage,” Thrask asked.

“Because they got stuck on guard duty instead of getting to go to a party,” Noll replied. Brennan snickered at that and Thrask voiced no further questions.

“We should take out the mage quickly,” Thrask said. “If they panic they will sacrifice the prisoners to save themself.”

“Prisoners is a realy pleasant way of saying slave,” Noll sneered. “Don’t hide their crimes because they make you uncomfortable.”

Thrask held his tongue but he was right about the mage. The templar was the best suited to fight him and Merrill agreed to support him as needed. When they were close enough Noll tossed in some sunburst grenades and they surged into the main chamber.

The mage was easy to identify, he was the only one in robes. The slaves were being held in the middle of the room, Merrill would have to be careful not to hit them. She had had plenty of practice in recent years making sure her chain lightning went in the right direction, though if she made a mistake and hit Aveline, she was usually alright. She doubted the slaves would survive even a glancing hit.

The guards were all blinking bleary eyes in the afterglow of the sunbursts, though to their credit, they kept their guards up. Merrill had seen many different guards over the past four years and was starting to learn how to tell the skilled from the unskilled. Like being able to tell a Keeper from an apprentice by the way they cast spells. These guards were professionals with the best training available. It would not help them.

Merrill called up a tempest, careful to keep it away from the slaves. Lightning crackled from the roof of the cave and struck the guards, preventing them from recovering their bearings. Brennan and Noll moved in to finish them off, most of them anyway. Thrask had reached the apprentice who had the stupefied look that tevinter mages always got when they encountered real templars. If he was like Hawke or Anders he might have tried to use his staff like a spear. Merrill had seen Hawke best a templar in a fight without using any magic at all. But this mage was not Hawke, not even close, and all he did was scream in terrified confusion as Thrask cut him down.

The slaves stared at the group in terrified awe.

“You killed them,” one stammered. “All of them.”

“Those who call themselves master are never as powerful as they would have you believe,” Noll said. They moved over to the group and cut their bonds. Most of them were elves though there were a few humans in the mix. “Today you are free and you are all under my protection.”

A slight movement caught everyone’s attention. One of the guards had only been knocked down, not killed and he took this opportunity to make a run for it. Hopefully straight to his master to tell him what had happened. The Magister would try to recapture his slaves and Hawke would be waiting when he did. With that, it was time for them to be out of the cave as quickly as possible.

Merrill thanked Thrak for his help and the renegade templar left the others to return to the Alienage. There were a few humans among the slaves but that mattered little right now. For the time being they were all under Marrill and Noll’s protection and, if they so choose, would be welcomed by the other elves of Kirkwall.


End file.
